Kiss the Bride
by alaricnomad
Summary: Lucas/Peyton. "You may kiss the bride." ONESHOT.


**Kiss the Bride**  
By Alaricnomad

He was nervous. He was not sure why.

He, Lucas Scott, had looked death in the eyes more than once and survived. He had risked his life countless times to save the day without fear and came out unscathed. And yet he had never been more petrified, struck more terrified than he was on this day. It was a wedding that left him bumbling and struggling at his wit's end.

He supposed it was not so much the idea of the ceremony that got to him as it was the significance of the day. This was not just an ordinary wedding.

The ceremony was to be held in a small and modest, but tasteful little church. Peyton, he knew, had wanted an outdoor wedding, with only a small gathering of friends and family. But everyone around them had been persistent in wanting to follow tradition. Knowing how important this day was to Peyton, Lucas let himself get accustomed to the idea.

He fiddled fretfully with the sleeve of his tuxedo jacket, letting his eyes wander over the assembled crowd in hopes of distracting himself from his agitation.

A warm smile lit his features despite himself, as he took in the assembly of old and familiar faces. In the front rows, places of honor, was Brooke, beautiful in her modest dress she'd most likely designed herself, her hand entwined with that of her fiancée- a good man Lucas had taken a particular liking to. Beside them, Nathan and Haley were the content little family unit he'd always imagined them as. In Haley's lap, their two-year-old, Luke, dozed fitfully, mussing boyishly untamable dark hair as he nestled deeper in his mother's arms. Jamie, nearly seven, was seated by his father, looking bored as he fidgeted with the collar to the suit his mother had forced him into.

To their right Lucas found his former coach, Whitey looking more aged with the years but at peace with his life. At his side sat Karen, his beloved mother, who frowned strangely in thought as her eyes gazed in his direction. Lucas fidgeted, wondering what it was she was thinking as she stared ahead, shook her head and looked away.

And then, the crowd went quiet, and he followed their gaze toward the back doorway. There she was, a vision in white, beautiful and breathtaking in ways no mortal should have a right to be. His mouth went dry, his heart thundered his chest, and the blood roared in his ears as Mr. Sawyer walked her slowly down the aisle, pulling back her veil to reveal the face of an angel.

The ceremony flew by quickly. He doubted he heard or understood a single word escaping the priest's mouth, for his attention was focused solely on the woman beside him. The "I do's" were said with breathless enthusiasm, her smile radiant, face flushed prettily as the priest pronounced groom and bride man and wife.

His heart in his throat at the priest's final words, the applause of the crowd dulling to a low drum as he stood before her, he laid a hand gently against her cheek, and leaned in.

The kiss was soft, fragile, and barely tangible if not for the way his heart soared with elation, leaving him drowning and grappling for a lifeline as his lips gently brushed over hers, light as a whisper.

Peyton Thomas, formerly Sawyer, gasped, her eyes widening as she touched her fingers to her lips. A fleeting brush of contact, no more palpable than a soft breeze of air, and yet she had felt him- she knew she had felt him there.

Beside her, her husband frowned in concern, holding a hand to her forehead. "Honey, are you alright? Are you feeling sick?"

She shook her head, brushing his hand away. "No, babe, I'm fine. I was just thinking about an old friend."

_Luke…God, thank you, baby…thank you so much, _she thought to herself, her heart warm.

Lucas smiled sadly, as he raised his hand in an attempt to touch her once again, but to no avail, as his fingers ghosted through her flesh. "Congratulations, Peyton."

Lucas Scott, dead for nearly five years, had fulfilled an old promise, and kissed the bride on her wedding day.

_I love you…forever and a day, _were his final words, before he let himself disappear into oblivion.

"Forever and a day," she whispered to herself and she took her new husband's hand, allowing herself to led back down the aisle to meet the congratulations of the congregation. She silently understood that today was just another day, like the rest of the days of her mortal life would be, and forever…forever with him…was still to come.

One day.

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A/N: I don't know where this came from…I just put my finger to the keyboard and this wrote itself. It's, I dunno, maybe some strange alternate universe where Lucas was killed after he and Peyton separated. Bad news…read above. Good news…no Lindsay?


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